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Potato Exports Rise, Water Levels Fall

During the first month of the current Iranian calendar year (began March 21), 38,400 metric tons of potatoes worth $15 million were exported, 1,479 times the value in the same period a year ago. The export destinations were the neighboring countries of Turkmenistan, Turkey, Iraq (specially the Kurdistan region), Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, the UAE, and Tajikistan; among them Iraq ranked first by importing 66% of Iranian potatoes. Exported at low price of $0.4, each kilogram of potatoes requires around 860 liters of water to be produced. Regarding serious water crisis in Iran and not having long term plans for sustainable agriculture, along with lack of satisfactory water management, experts believe vast areas of agricultural land are threatened with desertification in the near future. However, in dry and semiarid areas water intensive fruits and crops such as melons and potatos are still cultivated.